Olight M2T Warrior (XHP35, 1x18650) [Short Review]

I got my brand-new Olight M2T “Warrior” a couple of days ago, and since I don’t see anybody else’s review I decided to make a post of my own about it.

I don’t have an integrating sphere or anything, so I can’t give you lumen readings. And I do have a multimeter, but it’s not a clamp meter so I don’t necessarily trust it for high amp readings, but I measured 9mA 55µA standby current at the tailcap. It does get pretty damn bright, though. I didn’t notice PWM in any mode (and I tend to be pretty sensitive to it), which is a definite plus. The modes are generally well-spaced, but I wish low were just a smidge closer to moonlight. It’s not terrible where it is, though. It does have LVP; when I tested it with an unprotected cell, it measured 2.6V after the light finally shut off.

Anyway. First off, here’s a glamour shot of it reclining.

You can see the protruding tail switch (this light will not tailstand); the side switch (there’s a red LED behind the “pupil” in the center of the side switch); the bezel, with a color to match the ring around the side switch; the even and glossy anodizing; the crisp printing. I didn’t take a picture of the other side of the light, but you’d see that the clip is the “bidirectional” kind, and there’s an indicator on the tailcap that the positive terminal of your battery faces the tail. Also not shown is the packaging, or the two CR123As in a little sleeve that came installed in the light.

Here’s a size comparison with a few other 1x18650 lights I had lying around. From left to right: Sofirn SP31, Olight M2T, Olight S2 Cu, Emisar D4.

Camera tricks notwithstanding, the SP31 is ever-so-slightly longer than the M2T. And the M2T is clearly much larger than the S2, though their side switches behave quite similarly.

The business end of the light, with an OP reflector and a well-centered XHP35:

The same view, with the light turned on in moonlight mode:

Inside the tailcap. The spring-loaded pin in the middle is for the positive terminal of the battery:

The body tube is double-walled, and there’s a spring at the head end:

The bezel unscrews easily, revealing a bright blue (non-GITD) ring:

Turns out the lens (which is AR-coated) is centered within a rubber gasket:

Take the reflector out and you can see the MCPCB:

Now here is where I admit I am a little confused. I know what the red wire to the + and the black wire to the - are doing. But what about the thick red wire? If nothing else, it seems like the thick red wire would make an emitter swap more troublesome. You’d either have to unsolder and resolder it (a shame because there seems to be a really nice solder joint there), or else sort of solder around it.

Anyway, here’s a tint comparison. Olight M2T on the left, Emisar D4 on the right:

Here’s a beam comparison with the D4. (The M2T is on medium, the D4 is ramped to a level that felt similarly bright.)

And here are the same lights, both as bright as they will go:

And here’s a comparison with the BLF-348:

The last few pictures should show my biggest problem with the light: it has a downright brutal “Cree rainbow” effect. There are some faint dark rings in the beam that show up on a white wall but I didn’t notice in actual use, but the tint shift of the beam is definitely noticeable.

Here’s a table explaining the UI:

State Action Result
Off Click side switch On (memory)
Off Long press side switch Moonlight
Off Hold side switch 3 seconds Soft lockout
Off Double-click side switch Turbo
Off Triple-click side switch Strobe
Off Half-press tail switch Momentary turbo
Off Full press tail switch Turbo
Off Long press tail switch Momentary strobe
On Click side switch Off
On Hold side switch Next mode
On Double-click side switch Turbo
On Triple-click side switch Strobe
On Half-press OR full press tail switch Momentary turbo
On Long press tail switch Momentary strobe
Turbo Click side switch Off
Turbo Double-click side switch No effect
Turbo Triple-click side switch Strobe

It’s straightforward and easy to use, with a few caveats. (Basically it’s like an Olight S2, but with a tail switch for direct access to turbo and strobe.) Both the side and tail switches are electronic, and the tail switch can be half-pressed or full-pressed. Two quirks:

  • Memory does not remember moonlight or turbo. Not a problem since there are shortcuts to both.
  • If the light is already on, any interaction with the tailcap will result in the light turning off when the tailcap is released, whether half or full press. And double-clicking the side switch will get you into turbo but not back out again. So if you want to go from medium to turbo and back to medium, you will need to turn the light off.

Other than the tint shift, I really like this light. In principle either an XHP35 HI or a quad Nichia E21A should improve it by quite a bit in that regard.

Ouch, minor variances in tint don't normally bother me, but that greenish tint is "downright brutal" - assuming the white balance on your camera is giving us a realistic view.

Not sure how you measured that but note that the tailcap contacts are not directly connected. For standby drain you need to measure the current flowing through the battery positive and the outer body tube. On the M2R I get 63µA. Be sure to cover the inner tube with kapton tape or something to avoid shorts while measuring.

disclaimer: i haven’t tested the electrical path on the M2T yet (doing a runtime test atm), so I can’t be absolutely sure if the outer tube is positive or not, but would think it’s the same as M2R. So measure at your own risk!

I got mine yesterday for review, I’ll do a test to see if I got the same current drain.
I’m a bit sceptical (no offense) because 9mA is unacceptable IMO…
This new tail switch is really easy to use from any angle even with gloves, but feels really mushy and doesn’t give a quality feeling

I just got one of these a few days ago and while the tint shift of the beam is definitely noticeable, at least to my eyes, the green is not as overpowering as it is in the pictures above

I had my camera on auto white balance for the pictures of the body and such (including the glowing emitter), but went to ‘daylight’ mode for the beam pictures. The pictures match quite well to what my eyes were seeing. Maybe I just got an even worse emitter than shirnask.

Thanks for the tip. I measured again with a piece of paper between the body tubes and got 55µA, which seems much more reasonable.

Yeah, that measurement was way off, you were right to be skeptical. I agree that the tailcap has a very squishy feel.

Thanks for the review!

I like the light, but I dont think the double wall and momentary tail switch is my style. Give me a clicky (forward or reverse, doesn’t matter).

I’m not fond of the very short battery spring in the tail either… Reduces the range of possible batteries it will work with.

It works perfectly with the shortest flat tops and longest protected button tops. There’s a spring on both ends of the body and the one in the head end has a very long travel.

Nice, thanks for checking that…

You made me think of something — the springs certainly have enough travel to handle a variety of battery sizes, but they don’t press as firmly as some other springs. In normal use I don’t think this should be an issue, but shaking this light violently back and forth (at least with the unprotected flat top I tried it with) will make it turn off when the springs momentarily lose contact. So don’t use this as a weapon light.